Big Sur Half Marathon: Racing past the pain

There was a time in Michele Orozco's life — not too long ago — when she couldn't envision a finish line. For that, a person needs optimism and faith, and she had all but given up on those things.

But when the starting gun fires Sunday at the Big Sur Half Marathon on Monterey Bay, the 38-year-old Salinas woman will be among 9,000 people intent on running the 13.1-mile distance — not very far, really, considering how far she's already come.

In 1998, as a 22-year-old employee of a Marina supermarket, Orozco blew out a disc in her back by accidentally pushing a train of shopping carts into a curb.

Adjacent discs subsequently deteriorated, and by 2000 she was in so much unrelenting pain that back surgery seemed like the only option.

"It wasn't a difficult decision," she said this week. "I was ready to try anything to take away the pain. It was desperation."

Surgeons installed a metal cage in her spine and grafted bone from her hip to stabilize the damaged discs.

When that procedure had no effect on her pain, she went under the knife again a year later. This time doctors reinforced her back with 17 titanium rods and screws.

"The doctors said the surgery was a success, but, again, there was no pain relief at all," she said. "So after another year, they went back in there and took all of the metal out."

Exacerbating her discomfort was that pain medications — any kind — caused her to become so nauseous that she was unable to use them.

"It was a very dark time in my life," she said. "I'd spend the day in pain. I'd go to bed in pain. I'd wake up the next morning and the first thing I'd feel, the moment I opened my eyes, was the pain."

Intense, chronic pain has a strange effect on a person's mind, she said. She found it next to impossible to focus on conversations or remember things she, or anybody else, had said. Most of the time, she preferred not to talk at all. She spent most of every day alone in her bedroom, crying.

She was unable to drive her car. For almost four years, she could only walk with the assistance of an aluminum walker. She couldn't stand long enough to cook her own meals, take out the trash or do things she once took for granted.

"I'd take a shower, and then I'd take a break. I'd dry myself off, then I'd have to take another break. I'd get dressed, and then I'd be done, too exhausted to do anything else," she said.

So devastating was the mental toll that Orozco became clinically depressed — a condition that lasted a decade and, at one point, put her in the hospital with suicide on her mind.

The blessings in her life included the care and concern of her family, friends and her husband, Jaime, who met and married her during one of the darkest times of her life.

By 2009, her doctors gave her a stark prognosis: This is what your life is going to be. Stay on your antidepressants. Apply for government disability checks. Good luck.

Then, something amazing happened, she says. A pain therapist suggested she try a newfangled device — a spinal-cord stimulator — to see if it might provide any relief. It was a long shot, at best.

"They applied it externally first, just as a trial," she said. "They wheeled me in, attached it and said, 'OK, let's turn it on and see what happens.'"

What happened the instant the light went on is that Orozco's pain vanished, replaced only by a mild tingling sensation.

"I immediately started crying. I had tears of joy rolling down my face," she said. "And then the doctors and nurses, who had been through all of this with me ... they started crying, too."

The spine stimulator, which masks pain to the brain, was installed internally — Orozco's fourth surgery — and she has been pain-free ever since. She recharges the device every two weeks with a battery.

"The date was Jan. 13, 2009, and I call that my new birthday because that's the day I got my life back," she said. "It took a long time to get my strength back, but I began to notice little things, simple things, like suddenly being able to lift my arms high enough to blow-dry my hair."

Orozco said she needed two years before she felt like her physical condition had returned to normal. By then she was walking ... and running.

"I was never a runner before. I hated to run," she said. "And it was frustrating at first because I could only run for about 30 seconds, and then I'd have to walk for two or three minutes before I could run again."

But in October 2012 she entered a 5-kilometer run — and finished. It was the first of four that year.

Then she ran a 10K.

And in August of this year, she finished her first half-marathon.

"The spine stimulator has no effect on my burning legs, my burning lungs, the side aches — I still have to work through all of that — but, hey, when it comes to pain, I had been through hell and back," she said. "When I crossed the finish line at that first half-marathon, it was an amazing feeling. My husband picked me up at the finish line and hugged me. My friends were there. Everybody was crying."

Orozco said she feels like she lost 10 years of her life to back pain, and now is making up for lost time.

"I was so young when I got hurt that I never had time to mature like a normal person. I feel like I kind of stopped when I was 22," she said with a laugh. "Now, at 38, I'm ready to do all of the things I couldn't do while I was hurting."

She also feels a need to spread her gratitude and her message: Don't give up.

Orozco is working full-time again as a bank teller at Rabobank in Marina. She serves on committees for the California Rodeo Salinas and the Cherry's Jubilee classic car festival. She's a member of the Alisal Rotary Club and an assistant director with Sports Car Club of the Monterey Peninsula. She has volunteered with Meals on Wheels, the Monterey County Rape Crisis Center, Sunset Center, local parades and the Salvation Army, preparing, delivering and serving Thanksgiving Day meals.

"Mostly, my desire right now is to share my story and encourage people to get help," she said. "When you're depressed, you don't want to talk, don't want to get out of bed, don't want to go to therapy and put in the work. I'm here to tell people that that's what makes you stronger, and it gets better, and there's another side to the tunnel. When you come out that side, it's the best feeling you'll ever have. Don't give up."

Orozco kept the 17 pieces of titanium as a souvenir of her ordeal.

She says the spine stimulator that changed her life can be used to alleviate multiple kinds of chronic pain, and recommends anyone with severe discomfort to ask a doctor about the device.

·Where: Beginning in downtown Monterey, the course winds through downtown, the Lighthouse Tunnel and Cannery Row before entering into Pacific Grove for a scenic coastal and downtown route. Runners return to finish near Fisherman's Wharf. Post-race festivities at Custom House Plaza.

·Who: The event is sold out to runners, but spectators can watch for free.